He could throw millions at his his lawyers, and in the end, the deck was stacked against him. Sometimes, you just need to know when to hold them and when to fold them. Lance Armstrong folded today. He really had no choice.

The US Doping Agency can take away his medals and titles, and prevent him from competing in the future, but it can't take away his memories and all the good times he had. He's still ahead.

Yesterday was a bad day for Lance Armstrong in federal court in Austin, Texas. The judge dismissed his request for a temporary injunction preventing the USADA from forcing him to choose between participating in arbitration, where he almost certainly will be permanently banned from cycling and stripping him of his titles, or not participating and accepting the sanctions it doles out. (Details below the fold.) But the Judge said he could refile and today he did just that. (Details of the new suit are also below.)

As Armstrong battles on, today the USADA banned three of his associates for life for drug violations. They include former staff members and consultants on the cyclist’s winning Tour de France teams for drug violations.

Luis Garcia del Moral was a team doctor; Michele Ferrari was a consulting doctor; and Jose “Pepe” Marti (team trainer) worked for Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel squads. All had been accused by USADA of participating in a vast doping conspiracy on those teams during part or all of Armstrong’s seven Tour victories from 1999-2005.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has opened a formal action against Lance Armstrong for violating anti-doping rules from 1998 to the present. The notice is here.

The letter says Armstrong used blood transfusions from 2000 to 2005. It also alleges he used cortisone without medical authorization, and got plasma and saline transfusions.

Actions were also opened against the Team Director, two Team Doctors, a consulting doctor and a team trainer. The only rider named is Lance Armstrong.

In addition to testimony of fellow riders, the Agency says it has a urine sample showing EPO use taken in 2001 during the Tour de Switzerland. It says it has a witness who will say Armstrong told him/her it was covered up.[More...]

Tyler Hamilton, former teammate of Lance Armstrong, and a cooperator in the Government investigation into Armstrong's use of steroids, tells "60 Minutes" tonight that Lance Armstrong injected steroids many times. He said they all did. Lance Armstrong's lawyer replies:

Every cyclist who appeared on 60 Minutes has in the past sworn that they never doped. Now, their stories have suddenly changed out of desire for money and the need for attention. Just as eager for money and attention, 60 Minutes has embraced these falsehoods uncritically and enthusiastically. But greed and a hunger for publicity cannot change the facts: Lance Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the history of sports: He has passed nearly 500 tests over twenty years of competition. The time has long passed for this nonsensical investigation to stop, and for the enormous wasted resources to be re-directed to investigations that might actually protect Americans from wrongdoing.

Hamilton says Armstrong took the blood-booster EPO. He reportedly is writing a book. For more information from Lance's point of view, visit Facts for Lance.